Monday, December 9, 2013

SMASH LIVES! With the ratings success of Sound of Music: Live!, NBC has announced that they will do another one next year, with the only requirements being "they must be Broadway classics with a slew of familiar songs." So, South Pacific? The King And I? My Fair Lady? Camelot? Provide your musical and casting suggestions below. (And related to the headline, Hit List In Concert has drawn more than a few quite positive reviews, with some suggestion it could have an afterlife.)

34 comments:

This does raise another thing: this is not a TV adaptation of a well-liked live stage musical, but a TV adaptation of the well-liked film of the live stage musical. The reason there was a constituency at all for Sound of Music is because the film has been in such rotation for so long. I think what the NBC executives are looking for is something that has enough of a base of interest to draw it in. Mr Finn's suggestions are well taken -- Big River is a great musical -- but other than serious musical buffs, who has seen most of these?

Grease could absolutely work through this filter. The Music Man, too. But no one under the age of 70 has seen the movie of Camelot, after all.

Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, and South Pacific would have to be near the top of the list, maybe West Side Story, but I'll pick a dark horse for down the road: Legally Blonde. Well-known plot (but not known songs), great lead role, great slots for Broadway vets and non-Broadway smaller parts. (Okay, I want Beyonce or Pink as Brooke Wyndham.)

I keep coming back to "Singin' in the Rain" with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Justin Timberlake. Both have done live performances in the last two years and could be up for it. I remember we debated this as a Broadway revival a year or so ago. Who did we decide on as Kathy or Lena?

There's a lot more in that show that is problemative for family-friendly viewing. (I mean, the Nazis are too, but that ship sailed a long time ago.) Chorus Line is full of frank conversations about sex and a decent amount of cursing. Hello 12, Hello 13, Hello Love, changes oh....down below...up above.... (Not to mention: "Imagine me this kindergarten teacher....And I thought, SHIIIIIIIIT! (Shit Richie!) SHIIIIIIIIIIIT! (Shit Richie!) What are you gonna be?.....") Yeah, that whole song is out.

Legally Blonde is a good choice. It's why I think The Wiz can work - whether or not you've seen the Diana Ross/Michael Jackson thing, you know the source material, and a LOT of people know Ease on Down the Road.

Fiddler seems an obvious choice, but it occurred to me last night that the next thing we get is Mary Poppins. Beloved movie, existing stage show, exceedingly family friendly, and if Saving Mr. Banks does well...

I think it works just fine - about as well as The Wizard of Oz does on stage. I suspect it'll have some of the same problems as The Sound of Music with the sets feeling like sets rather than sweeping vistas, but it's no worse a problem than any other show.

I suspect Matt is right and it will be My Fair Lady. Fiddler could be a contender, but the star is . . . older and it would seem they will want that Underwood-style stunt casting. You can do that with Eliza. Harder with Tevye.

Great point; I forgot how adult some of the show is. And I think it's probably out for a more fundamental reason, too: it's basically a show about show-business cynicism, which doesn't fit at all with the family-friendly holiday-tradition vibe they're going for.

But with Fiddler, you have all sorts of supporting roles you can cast stars into. You put Mandy Patinkin in as Tevye for both bankability and chops. Then Streisand can do Yente (not my idea, but perfect) and you can do all sorts of things with the daughters - Zooey Deschanel, Maggie Gyllenhall, Taylor Swift, Hayden Panettierre, and Anna Kendrick.

Then for Goldie, Catherine Zeta-Jones or any bankable actress over 40. Hell, stick Meryl Streep in there.

The beauty of Fiddler is that you can do your stunt casting in smaller parts. Everyone talks about how Carrie Underwood spent ten months getting ready for the role, but Mandy Patinkin wouldn't need 10 months, and the high profile people in the smaller parts wouldn't have to commit that long.

Remember in your dream casting that there is no way anyone attached to a show on another broadcast network (Deschanel, Panettierre) is going to be allowed to do this, at least in a major role. It's going to be interesting to see where they go--do they feel they need a Top 40 Star, or is the franchise name itself enough?

"West Side Story"? I'm sure there's a ton of pop stars who would jump for leads in that. Change the "Jets" racial make up and you could put Rihanna and Usher in the lead roles. Or has it been overdone?

It was, in fact, a TV adaptation of a well-liked live stage musical. This explains the inclusion of songs that were cut from the film version, as well as and placement of the songs (My Favorite Things in the abbey).

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